Portugal

Portugal spent decades being overlooked and used the time well. It has Europe's most liveable capital, a second city (Porto) that rivals it glass for glass, hundreds of kilometres of surfable Atlantic coast, and food that costs half what it would over the Spanish border. The mood is gentler than Spain's — dinner at eight, not eleven — and the national art form is saudade, a beautiful melancholy you'll hear sung in any fado house. Come for a city break; understand within two days why so many people never quite leave.

What things cost: Portugal is western Europe's best value: noticeably cheaper than Spain, France or Italy for food, coffee and rooms. Lisbon's tourist core has been catching up fast, but two streets away the €9 lunch with wine still exists. When a zone below says 'low', that means low for Portugal — which is genuinely low.